Rubio symbolically rebukes Trump on tariffs

@alextdaugherty

Sen. Marco Rubio joined a majority of his Senate GOP colleagues to vote in favor of a symbolic resolution that would give Congress more power to check President Donald Trump's tariffs that are justified through national security concerns.

Rubio and Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson voted in favor of a non-binding resolution by Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker that would require the president to receive congressional approval when enacting tariffs due to national security concerns, which Trump did last month when imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

The final vote was 88 in favor of the resolution and 11 against. The 11 "no" votes were all Republicans.

Rubio has not directly criticized the Trump administration's decision to levy tariffs on U.S. allies, though he has been critical of the administration's decision to back away from tariffs on China. His office did not immediately respond when asked if he would have voted in favor of Corker's proposal had it been introduced as an actual bill instead of a symbolic resolution. Other Republican Senators who voted for Corker's resolution said they would not have voted for it if it was a bill with substantive trade policy implications.

Trump's decision to levy tariffs on certain countries has drawn sharp criticism from a host of groups traditionally aligned with the GOP, though Republicans in Congress haven't moved forward with legislation on the issue after GOP leadership declined to bring Corker's bill up for a vote unless it was symbolic.

A number of Florida industries, including boat manufacturers, fisheries, coffee producers and food manufacturers could be negatively impacted by tariffs imposed on China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They estimated that $713.4 million in exports from Florida could be affected by a trade dispute over tariffs.